Our homemade apple butter recipe comes together quickly in your Instant Pot and creates perfect apple butter every time. Our recipe is naturally sweetened with maple syrup and is filled with fresh apples and all of your favorite fall spices.
Jump to:
❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Instant Pot Apple Butter is a fall staple in our house. It's a great way to use and preserve all of those beautiful fall apples that you've picked. Our sugar free apple butter is delicious on muffins, waffles, biscuits and charcuterie boards. Using the Instant Pot makes this recipe quick and easy with delicious results every time!
If you're not in a hurry and want your kitchen to smell like fall, be sure to check our our Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter. If you're looking for a recipe to make with apple butter, check out our Apple Butter Bread or Apple Butter Oatmeal Pancakes.
🍫 Ingredients
- apples - for this recipe, you'll want to us a crispy, tart apple such as honey crisp or cortland
- maple syrup - be sure to use 100% pure maple syrup for this recipe
- maple sugar - maple sugar is made by evaporating the liquid from maple syrup. It has a great maple flavor and adds sweetness to the recipe without adding additional moisture.
Be sure to see the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions.
🥣 Instructions
Combine apples, spices, lemon juice, maple syrup, maple sugar and apple cider in the pot of your Instant Pot. Pressure cook the apples on high for 90 minutes.
Transfer cooked apples to your blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively you can use you immersion blender and blend right in the pot.
Transfer apple butter to the stove top and cook over low heat for 60-90 minutes - until you have a nice, thick consistency for spreading on breads and crackers.
Store cooled Instant Pot Apple Butter in the refrigerator or freezer. You can also can your apple butter. See below for canning instructions.
Hint: The apple butter will continue to thicken as long as you cook it on the stovetop at the end of the recipe. If your apple butter is too thin for your liking, cook it a bit longer on the stove top.
🤓 Expert Tips
There are a few different ways to preserve your Instant Pot Apple Butter.
Freezer:
Allow the apple butter to cool. Ladle the butter into your preferred container for freezing. I like using pint sized mason jars or another plastic container that is good for the freezer. Be sure to leave about ½ inch of space between the top of the apple butter and the lid of your container. The apple butter will expand a bit when it freezes. You can keep apple butter in the freezer for 4-6 months.
Canning:
If you decide to can your apple butter, start by sterilizing your jars in boiling hot water. Carefully lower the jars, their lids and rims into boiling hot water for ten minutes and then allow the jars to cool and then dry them out.
Ladle the warm apple butter into your canning jars, leaving a little bit (about ¼ inch) of room at the top of the jar. Wipe the jars off and then seal with the lid and rim.
Finally, submerge the filled jars in boiling water and process for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the boiling water using tongs and allow to cool completely. The lids should be sealed tight and should not make a popping sound when you push down on them.
⭐️ Recipe FAQs
Truly any apples will work for apple butter but I prefer a tart, firm apple for making apple butter. Cortlands, Macintosh or Honey Crisp are all great choices.
To thicken your apple butter, you want to cook the finished sauce over low heat and allow some of the moisture to evaporate from the butter. The longer you cook the finished butter, the thicker that your apple butter will be.
Apple butter is milled or pureed and cooked for a longer period than apple sauce, creating a rich, caramelized spread. Where applesauce can be left chunky, apple butter is smooth and rich, perfect for spreading on muffins or biscuits.
🍎 Related Apple Recipes
Love this recipe? We'd love to hear about it! Leave us a 5-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating at the top of the recipe card! We read, respond to and appreciate all of your comments so don't forget to leave a comment below. We love hearing feedback from our readers!
We love connecting with all of you on social media. Head over and follow along @instagram @facebook or @pinterest
📖 Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Maple and Thyme.
Instant Pot Apple Butter
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 6 pounds apples
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup apple cider
- ¼ cup maple sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Place sliced apples into your Instant Pot. Add maple syrup, apple cider, maple sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and ground cloves. Mix gently to combine. Cook on high (pressure cook) for 90 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to naturally release.
- Use your blender or immersion blender to puree the apple butter. Puree until entirely smooth.
- Return the apple butter to a medium sauce pan, sweeten with additional maple sugar to taste. Cook for an additional 45-60 minutes on low, stirring often. The longer you cook over low, the more thick your finished apple butter will be.
- Cool and store apple butter in the refrigerator or freezer. If you would like to can your apple butter, see instructions in the notes below.
Tried This Recipe? Leave a Comment for Us!